Impact of a player being traded

[jedaiah_2000]

I've always been a huge Colorado Rockies fan and started picking up game used memorabilia for my personal collection a few years ago. In the past I have kept my collection to highlights of the organization and have tried hard to not go after guys that I don't think will be with the organization long-term. To me it always made more sense to invest in a Tulo jersey than say a Cuddyer Rockies jersey (great player, but won't ever really be known as a Rockies player). We've dealt with Tulo trade rumors for years, but I am just now realizing that it is something that will probably happen sooner rather than later. When speaking directly of game used jerseys, how do you handle one of your players being traded? Obviously it will depend on what happens later in his career, but in general, what impact does a trade have on value of gamers?

Also, I collected Tulo because of what he did on the field for the Rockies and I figured his gamers would at least hold their value. But I've never really been a fan of his attitude towards fans and the media, so I'm not sure if I will continue to be a fan if and when he is traded. I'm a Rockies fan at heart, but you will still hear me cheering for players like Matt Holliday and Seth Smith. I'm just not sure it'll be the same for Tulo.

[Sioux4Ever]

I know personally for me it wouldn't make a difference......the value of the jersey may dip slightly right after he's traded but Tulo is a franchise guy that will always be known as a Rockie in my opinion so after that initial slump his products will go up. As a Twins fan, I'm seeing the effects of that right now for guys like Morneau and Cuddy. There items didn't dip necessarily, but now it is definently on the ups as people start to hold onto them more and more and not as many come available.

[emann]

This is one of the things that bothers me about this hobby actually . . . If you're a fan of the player's accomplishments while he's on your team—you should still want his items AFTER he is no longer with the team (or at least not need to clean house because of a trade, etc). I think they values take a hit only because of this mentality. Only a couple superstars will retire on the teams they start with, so players eventually wearing rival jerseys is sort of a given at this point.

[Red Sox fans: Ellsbury, Youk, Boggs, Clemens, and Damon—Sox to Yankees defectors. Happy to continue taking their Sox gamers off your hands when you can't stand looking at them anymore.]

[TNTtoys]

This is one of the things that bothers me about this hobby actually . . . If you're a fan of the player's accomplishments while he's on your team—you should still want his items AFTER he is no longer with the team (or at least not need to clean house because of a trade, etc). I think they values take a hit only because of this mentality. Only a couple superstars will retire on the teams they start with, so players eventually wearing rival jerseys is sort of a given at this point.

[Red Sox fans: Ellsbury, Youk, Boggs, Clemens, and Damon—Sox to Yankees defectors. Happy to continue taking their Sox gamers off your hands when you can't stand looking at them anymore.]

Couldn't agree with you more. Being a Mets fan and collector, my collection would be awfully small if it didn't include "traded players" and/or Yankee defectors -- in fact, it would probably be less than 5% what it is today :-) Probably 1 David Wright jersey and a bunch of other junk...
Hell, with the Yankee players alone I would have to move all of my Beltran and Olerud items, not to mention Strawberry, Gooden, Mazzilli, Cone, Ventura, Elster, Ojeda... Yikes.

[godwulf]

Great topic! I can't really speak authoritatively on how trades affect the value of GU items, but I know how they affect me personally from a collecting perspective. I collect far more bats than jerseys, but I think the same principles apply.

When I began collecting, as soon as a player came to the team, I went out and bought all of his other-team items that I could afford to buy...usually before I even really knew much about the guy. Lenny Harris is a good example; at one point, I had about a half a dozen of his bats from other teams that he played on before coming to the Diamondbacks; he ended up playing a total of 55 games here, over parts of two seasons, and I eventually sold all but his DBacks bats for a loss. I will keep his DBacks bats because I'm just compulsive that way, but his other-team stuff has zero interest for me now.

There are players whose other-team stuff I'll collect and others I won't - it doesn't mean that much to me if I wasn't just a super fan of the player. It doesn't even have to be a big-name player - it might be guy who had a few good years and burned out for one reason or another, or a prospect who I got to talk to a few times and who was nice to me. I'll collect that player's other-team GU items before I'll even think about going after, say, a Justin Upton bat or jersey from Atlanta or San Diego.

Right now I own seven of Upton's minor league jerseys and his batting helmet from high-A Visalia. If I have anything identifiably DBacks-related that I may, someday, decide to unload, it's those...not so much because he was traded, or because I might actually recoup most or all of what I paid for them, but because he acted like such a jerk to the fans when he was here.

[johnsontravis@ymail.com]

I know it isn't popular to some, but a trade does effect my interest to some degree. It effects my pursuit of new items because one of my pleasures in collecting is having something of a player I see play everyday. It doesn't effect the items I already acquired before the trade though. I am not one to sell everything after a trade. I like having some of those memories. I will say with some players I like to collect them even after they are gone. I enjoy collecting my favorite players after their time runs out on my team.

One of the best ways to still enjoy my items after they leave my team is to have pictures to go with them. Connecting the memories and faces brings back good times.

[xsentrixsupra]

For me, I enjoy the player for what they did when on my team and as long as he carried himself with class and didn't burn any bridges on his way out I'm cool. For example, I still love Pau Gasol for his time in LA and still cheer for him today even though he's on the Bulls.........Dwight Howard......haha not so much.


Another way of looking at it is where he is leaving from. For instance, the teams I tend to cheer for Lakers/Dodgers/Trojans/49ers......tend to have expansive fan bases and the prices of their game used stuff is generally from what I see, higher than say a fan of the Timberwolves or like the Pirates.

[lengthwise1]

That's because Matt and Seth were good guys in CO to the fans and continue to be. Not so much with Troy, cant wait till he's gone, hopefully we get some much needed pitching for him!

There's a reason why the Coors Field regulars call Troy the deuce, I'll leave it at that...

[joshmiller0]

I buy players I like because it's impossible to know when and if they'll get traded. I collect NBA game used items and will tell you that some of my items have taken an enormous decline... some of which are worth maybe an 8th of what I paid... for example, I bought pretty much the whole knicks team shooting shirts a couple of years ago when they were first in the division... I watched on ebay as some of the shirts I paid between 100 to 200 each for were going for 30 bucks... another jersey was several hundred and I watched the same player on ebay go for 150. I don't really regret any of my purchases though because I still like the players.. The problem with game used collecting is you never know if you'll have the chance to pick up certain items ever again... it's not like a computer that you know if you pass up on it now, you can buy it later probably cheaper... plus I never plan on selling my items so the value doesn't matter as much as it would if I was looking to get rid of them.. Like others said, excellent thread

[esquiresports]

A high profile trade that doesn't take place at the tail end of that player's career will have a negative effect on the value of items worn by him on his old team. For example, take a look at what LeBron Heat jerseys commanded before and after he switched back to the Cavs.